Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Rating 7 out of 10

When I saw the previews for this movie I was all in.  I like this type of action/spy/James Bondish of movie and have become a big Colin Firth fan over the years.  This type of role is way out of the norm for him yet he handles it well as super agent Harry Hart.  Leave the cool sexy names to Bond.

This movie is based off a popular English comic book that I had never heard of.  It was also directed by the same guy that did the underrated and over the top action film Kick Ass. It seems more than a hundred years ago some very rich English men donated a bunch of money to fund a ultra secret group of agents that have the single job of fighting bad guys without people ever knowing they are there  When one agent dies all the other agents nominate a young potential replacement that are put through an enhanced boot camp to see who will take the fallen agents place.

As they point out in the film what makes a spy movie is the bad guy.  This time the bad guy is Richmond Valentine (played by the almost always fantastic Samuel L. Jackson).  For some reason Jackson plays this guy as a mentally challenged teenager with a speech impediment and fear of seeing blood.  Not sure how this got past the group in the reading room when preparing for this film.  For me it didn't work.  Luckily the rest of the movie more than made up for it.

Valentines henchmen this time is a woman.  A hot Brazilian looking woman that for some reason has these razor things where her feet used to be that allows her to slice and dice the most experienced opponent.  When she kills a Kinsmen agent the hunt is on for a young replacement.  The movie bounces between the bootcamp and Hart's attempt to catch Valentine.  Harts nomination for the replacement agent is a street young punk (newcomer Taron Egerton). He of course out does all the other preppy rich kid nominees.

The movie flows well even though it gets a bit hokey at the end and falls prey to some typical action movie cliches (we have to stop the bomb in 4,3,2...).  I enjoyed it.  I wouldn't buy the dvd, but would watch it if it were on cable.  In all the years I have been watching movies with my movie buddy Ted this is the first time I can remember rating a movie higher than him.  He gave this movie a 6.

If the trailer looks interesting to you chances are you will enjoy the film.  It's not a Bond classic yet compared to what else is out there this is a pretty good choice for a theater seat.